Champagne and ice: Discovering the perfect way to explore Norway's fjords 

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Feasting my eyes on the champagne breakfast being laid out on my private balcony was possibly the only diversion that could have averted my gaze from the ice-capped peaks, roaring glacier melt ravines and emerald-green shores that reflected the splendour of the surrounding Norwegian fjords.

Once the bubbly was poured, my friendly waiter left me to drink in the dizzying, never-ending view of mountains above and below my lofty vantage point, mesmerisingly mirrored in the crystal-clear water.

The clean sea air only added to my appetite for the fruit platter, smoked salmon and freshly baked pastries laid out before me on a linen tablecloth as white as the surrounding snow-covered summits. 

The Mail on Sunday's Bridget McGrouther explored Norway's dazzling fjords, pictured, aboard the Emerald Princess cruise ship

Even in June, the wintry web still clung stubbornly to the impossibly steep and sheer-sided terrain.

This serene start to the day was the ideal way to soak up the panoramas as we neared the end of our overnight journey from Stavanger, sailing slowly but surely along the Sognefjord, Norway’s longest and deepest.

I was amazed that our 2,670-passenger ship, the Emerald Princess, could slip through the 125-mile-long fjord so easily and silently. After all, she dwarfed the houses of our tiny village destination – Skjolden, with its 200 or so residents.

Yet, in an area aptly nicknamed ‘Home of the Giants’, due to no fewer than 24 colossal peaks soaring more than 6,000ft above sea level, even the Emerald shrunk into the landscape.

You can imagine how diminutive we felt clambering into our kayaks for a guided tour along Lustrafjord, under the towering Jotunheimen national park.

As we paddled along the flat-calm fjord, we tried our best not to zigzag as much as the distracting pointed peaks.

Our guide showed us wildlife and places of interest, while relating legends and local tales – such as the teacher who crosses the fjord every day to school, dragging his canoe over the ice when he has to during winter!

With plenty of stops along the way, Bridget was in this case able to source glacier ice for her own champagne breakfast

Mastering the kayak without falling in matched the sense of achievement I’d felt the day before during our stop at Olden, when we had successfully scaled not just one, but two glaciers – Brenndalsbreen and Briksdalsbreen.

These active shore excursions at least gave me half a chance to fight the pounds threatening to pile on due to excellent food on board freely available round the clock.

It didn’t take much to succumb to paying a little extra to try the new speciality restaurants – The Salty Dog Gastropub, serving gourmet twist comfort food, and celebrity chef Curtis Stone’s SHARE (where I’d much rather have kept the delicious dishes all to myself, completely defeating the generous concept).

Most mouth-watering of all during our seven-day round trip from Southampton was the Chef’s Table. 

Champagne and delicious platters were a staple throughout the voyage

This tasting menu extravaganza began in style with champagne and hors d’oeuvres served during a galley tour followed by so many dishes and selected wine pairings that I completely lost count of courses and calories…

I didn’t have the nerve to compete in the Voice Of The Ocean, Princess Cruises’ answer to popular TV singing competitions. But I did have the luck to bump into the charismatic vocalist Ben Mills, a previous X Factor finalist who was performing on board.

While crowds queued for Magic To Do, the ship’s latest theatre production created in collaboration with award-winning Broadway musical composer Stephen Schwartz, I took a front-row stool in the Wheelhouse Bar to indulge in the latest chocolate cocktail list inspired by chocolatier Norman Love.

A salted caramel rum shake or chocolate bacon bourbon special? They may sound unusual, but like pretty much everything else on board, they turned out to be far too moreish…